Movin’ to Miami? Better get Jiggy wittit.

February 24, 2016

This week’s news that sea level is rising faster than at any time in the last 3000 years underlined the threat that coastal cities around the world are facing, not in some distant future, but now. No place in North America is this more true than Miami, as my most popular “This is Not Cool” video shows. (below)

The response to the news from Denierville was predictable, but probably summed up in most cluelessly amusing fashion in this tweet from tobacco apologist and climate denial opportunist, “Junk Science” purveyor Steven Malloy, who suggested in a tweet that Miami’s hot real estate market disproved climate change.

The facts could not be clearer: Tidal flooding along the nation’s coast is worsening, largely due to mankind’s burning of fossil fuels, which is causing the oceans to rise at the fastest rate since the founding of ancient Rome. New scientific studies released this week underscore what residents of Miami Beach, the Florida Keys and the eastern seaboard already know. Greenhouse gases are threatening our coasts, homes, businesses and way of life. And as tens of millions deal with rising temperatures, the stakes only rise for political leaders and the public to address the changes in a meaningful way.

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The message is clear: Humans caused this mess and now need to fix it. Rising sea levels pose a risk far beyond the coast, as salty seawater threatens the drinking water supplies for millions, just as rising temperatures from a warming climate threaten public health, the food chain and global stability.

That’s why the simplest solution — a tax on carbon — needs to be on the table. It’s why state lawmakers need to quit toying with fracking and look for ways instead to reduce Florida’s need for fossil fuels. It’s why Florida’s congressional delegation needs to be an environmental leader; no place is threatened by rising seas more than this low-lying state, and the third-largest state should carry some clout. And it’s why the world community needs to commit to meet the climate change targets agreed to in December in Paris. If a rich nation like the United States can’t keep stormwater from bubbling up on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, what hope is there?

Milloy’s denying mien goes back decades: “..Steve Milloy has been associated with the major American tobacco companies since at least 1997. In 1997, he took over as the executive director of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), a front group set up by Philip Morris in 1993 and run by the public relations firm APCO & Associates. The main objective of TASSC was to question the science showing detrimental effects of cigarette smoke. The idea was for TASSC to create an extensive grassroots campaign where it would be promoted as a legitimate scientific source. …”

yeah, I couldn’t find the tweet at first, and since I was aware almost nobody would believe anyone could be that stupid – I first posted that the tweet had disappeared, tweeted it @JunkScience – then Milloy obligingly piped up that “You’re wrong, it’s still there, see?
perfect. thanks.

I had heard of Milloy but never looked him up on desmogblog before. The desmogblog piece on Milloy is among its longer “exposes” of deniers. I guess the bigger whore you are, the longer you whore, and the more “street corners” you stand on, the more $$$ you make and the more “ink” you get?